If you subscribe to my website, then you’ve been receiving the “Weekend Reiding” newsletter in your inbox (if not, you can subscribe to receive it for free…just enter your email address in the subscription bar here at katiemreid.com). In the newsletter, I highlight what we’ve been up to, share some behind-the-scenes info., and let you know about books that can help you unwind.

I’m delighted to introduce you to Donna. She and I met at Carol Kent’s Speak Up Conference and she is a sweet member of my prayer team. Donna is encouraging, wise, and recently released a book.

The holiday season can be a blend of joy and loss and Donna’s book, Every Mourning, lovingly validates our grief and points us to God’s faithfulness, even in pain and the unknown.

Every Mourning

By, Donna Fagerstrom

You get that unexpected call, someone close to you just died. You go to what you thought would be a routine exam with your physician and suddenly your world is turned upside down by a startling life-or-death diagnosis. Your boss calls you into his office and you are thinking it might be for a raise or a promotion. But, out of the blue, you’re told that the company is down-sizing and your job is now eliminated.

The stories are endless. In this broken world, we will all walk a journey of deep grief or significant loss.

We all process loss and grief differently. In our current culture, there is a lot of information and opinion on how to walk through a journey of grief with various steps and expectations of “how to” grieve. I have read many of them. I am sure you have as well. Some may have found great solace from them.

And then, the people in our life show up with advice. Some will share their story and expect your experience to mirror theirs. Others have advice for you that just doesn’t fit. You are often left feeling guilty or that something is wrong with you, because you are not grieving in the way or in the time-frame others expect.

I have personally discovered there’s no universal formula to manage grief. We all grieve differently, depending on so many variables. In death, our age, stage in life, and relationship to the person who has just died factor into the grieving process. With the loss of a job, finances, a divorce or the loss of a dream or ambition, grief will affect everyone in a different way due to how we are wired, physically, emotionally, our system of personal support and our hope of recovery.

Grief is a garment to be worn for a season as a cloak, but in His time, as a garment of grace. There is no right or wrong way to grieve. We should never stand in judgement of how another grieves, nor live in another’s judgment of unrealistic expectations.

Give yourself permission to grieve—God’s way, in God’s time.

Every Mourning is designed to walk with you through your loss and grief. Often the very thing another Christian encourages someone in grief to do is to spend time in God’s Word and pray. While that is great advice, the personal pain is so great that reading and praying is hard. Finding a verse from the Bible that encourages and helps can be a lengthy labor. Praying can be confusing with too many distractions to focus on the love and grace of a compassionate God.

Every Mourning has carefully selected verses from the Bible that are uplifting. The short prayers allow the one hurting to eavesdrop on the prayers of another. Short insights will give new perspective, hope, and healing.

A songwriter penned these words, “You’re not the first to be acquainted with sorrow, grief or pain, but the Master promised sunshine after the rain.” Every Mourning will bring you in close touch with the promises and person of a Savior who loves you and has much more for you in love and in life.

Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I will say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him.’ -Lamentations 3:22-24

With Hope,
Donna

Donna was born an identical twin in Holland, Michigan, and came to personal faith in Christ at the age of six. Donna is an encourager, worshiper, speaker, writer, and author and has used these gifts in every area of ministry. Having served for 31 years in the local church, she also has a commitment to pray for leaders.

From 2003-2009 Donna worked in leadership and support roles at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, where her husband Doug was the President. In 2010 Donna received “The Woman of Influence” award from Cornerstone University. From 2010-2015 Donna was the women’s ministry leader for Converge Worldwide, a national and international church planting and church strengthening movement in Orlando, Florida. In the fall of 2015 Doug and Donna moved to Dallas, Texas where Donna servers with her husband, the President of Marketplace Ministries.

Although they miss living near their daughter, Darci and their son-in-love, Jay Irwin and their granddaughters, Kyra, and Arlie, Donna would be quick to say, “There is joy in serving Jesus and others.”

Donna’s book, Every Mourning, is published by MPACT Communications and is available on Amazon.

Giveaway:

If you are a subscriber to my website, I’ll be sending you details this week about how you can win a copy of Donna’s book, Every Mourning. If you aren’t already subscriber, sign up to stay in the loop!

Interview with Micah Maddox

1. Tell us a little bit about why you wanted to write Anchored In?

When I first felt the call to write a book, I was terrified and truly did not want to do it. I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough words, or that people would think I was chasing fame or seeking attention. When I finally set those fears aside, I was able to listen to the still small voice of God and hear what He had been telling me all along. This book was written for the women who have been hurt deeply, who long to find a purpose in the hard parts of life, and who know there has got to be a reason for the tough stuff we face in life. It was for me. It was a healing journey that God took me on as I worked through being abandoned by my dad who was a pastor. God took me to new depths and showed me the path to living beyond the pain of my past. It was such a beautiful experience that I couldn’t help but share it.

2. Would you mind sharing with us how you landed your book deal? 🙂

It was a process of three writing conferences and a lot of work in between. When I first began this process, I knew nothing about the blogging, writing, or publishing world. I connected with publishers, editors, and agents for the first time back in 2015 at She Speaks. From there I signed with my agent and began the hard process of reworking my book proposal. I think this might have been the hardest part of the entire journey. It took almost a year to shine it up and get it ready to be presented to publishers. From there, my agent did the legwork and presented the proposal to about fifteen publishers. Two said yes! I signed with Abingdon Press in the fall of 2016.

3. What was one of the hardest parts about writing this book?

Besides the book proposal, the hardest part was knowing how much of my story to include in the book. When you write a book, every word counts. And the details of your story are precious to you. It is so hard to edit paragraphs and chapters out of the book especially when it is so personal. So for me, the hardest part was chapter 2. This is the chapter when I really share the details of what it was like to be abandoned by my dad. I wrote all the other chapters and then came back to this one and reworked and reworked it. I had several people read it and asked them for their hard honest opinion. I wrestled with sharing the facts in a way that would never come across as me tearing down my dad. The main goal was to shine a light on the way God delivered me from such a difficult place. It’s painfully beautiful how it came together. God in His perfect way gave wisdom and clarity to both my editor and I. And for that, I am so thankful!

4. Do you have some advice for someone who is (or wants to) write about their hard story?

Edit, edit, edit. Put it away and sleep on it. Edit, edit, edit. Put it away and let it rest for days. Edit and let others edit. It’s never easy to pull out details, but it’s necessary. When you write about your difficult circumstance, you never want to transfer pain to the reader. You always want to pull the reader through the problem and bring them to the other side of the storm with hope, encouragement, and inspiration. It’s okay to state the facts, but not all the gory ones. Give what God says to the reader and offer them the hope that God has given you. Another tip that someone gave me when I was writing my book was, “Not all your words need to go in the book.” Edit and then edit one more time.

5. In Chapter 9 you say, “The bad things in life are many and will always take a front seat if we allow them to.” What is a truth or strategy that you use to not allow those bad things to dictate your outlook?

I keep my eyes on truth. When I speak of truth, I mean Jesus. When I set God’s Word before me each day, my perspective is shifted from “me” to “He”. It’s amazing the difficult things we can walk through with perfect peace when we keep our eyes on the person of peace. I don’t always get this right, but I’m learning one day at a time. One of my mottos is, “Eyes on Jesus! Always!” And one day I think we’ll realize how much the problems of life distract us from the person of power in our lives – Jesus. We desperately need Him. Every. Day.

Thank you, Micah. We appreciate you sharing your heart and pointing us to Jesus.

If you are looking for a last minute Christmas gift, consider Anchored Infor the person on your list who needs a fresh dose of hope.

For a long time, I censored my prayers because I didn’t want to be disappointed if they were not answered in the way I hoped. But through a friend’s encouragement, I stopped editing my prayers and started boldly asking God for my heart’s desire. I knew that God would answer according to His will.

Praying uninhibited helped strengthen my faith as I declared that God could do the impossible and then waited to see how things would unfold.

King Solomon is an example of someone who prayed boldly. May we do the same.

1 Kings 3:9 says: So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?

As a new king, Solomon had the honorable yet daunting task of governing God’s chosen people. Although his earthly father was far from perfect, Solomon had big sandals to fill as he reignd on the heels of his dad, revered King David.

In 1 Kings 3:5, God appeared to Solomon in a dream and said: Ask for whatever you want Me to give you.

It almost seems like a genie in a bottle kind of moment, but it’s more like a loving father placing his hands on his child’s shoulders, “What is it that you want? Is there something I can do to help you?”

Solomon responded to God’s question by asking for a discerning heart to distinguish between right and wrong. He asked for this so he could rule well and honor God in the process.

Solomon could have asked God for long life, wealth, victory over his enemies (or the latest, greatest model of chariot) but instead, he demonstrated humility and wisdom by asking for a discerning heart. Solomon was keenly aware that he had been called to a position that required more strength and insight than he currently possessed, so he asked God to provide what was needed for the task at hand.

Solomon’s prayer for wisdom pleased God and God gladly provided what was requested.

As we see in 1 Kings 3:3, Solomon was imperfect yet God still blessed him by answering his heartfelt plea.

Not long after Solomon received this gift of wisdom, he was presented with a perplexing situation of two harlots disputing over who was the rightful mother of a baby. Solomon’s verdict on this sticky situation caused all of Israel to be in awe as they observed the divine wisdom God gave their king to administer justice (1 Kings 3:28).

welcome

Hi, I'm Katie (a Modern Martha, wife, and mom to five). I'm so glad you're here! Let's enjoy some cut-to-the-chase conversation over hot or iced tea, as we find grace in the unraveling of life (together). Let's exchange try-hard striving for hope-filled freedom as we settle into our position as a doer and a daughter—created by a Loving Father.
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